AGRICULTURAL NEWS - Soil needs nurturing. Like any living organism it requires just the right combination of nutrients and organic matter in order to be healthy.
A tenet of conventional agriculture has been to till the fields in preparation for planting, but this is changing.
Settat is a cereal-producing region about 2.5 hours outside Marrakesh in Morocco. Here small-scale farmers are particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate variability and reduced rainfall.
Between 1970 and 2012 rainfall in the region decreased from 435mm to 306mm and has become more unpredictable. Here agriculture is rainfed and irrigation is not a cost-effective option, according to Oussama El Gharras of the national agri-research body - Institut National de Recherche Agronomique (INRA).
This means that small-scale farmers needed a new plan of action.
Green Morocco Strategy
Enter the Moroccan government with its "Plan Maroc Vert" or Green Morocco Strategy which aims to make agriculture a driving force for equitable economic growth. This plan was launched in 2008 and envisages creating 1.5 million jobs by 2020.
This means that small-scale farmers needed a new plan of action.
Green Morocco Strategy
Enter the Moroccan government with its "Plan Maroc Vert" or Green Morocco Strategy which aims to make agriculture a driving force for equitable economic growth. This plan was launched in 2008 and envisages creating 1.5 million jobs by 2020.
A large part of this strategy is to assist small-scale farmers who make up the bulk of the agri-sector to modernise their practices and boost the quantity and quality of their yields. The goal is also to move them from a subsistence livelihood to a market-linked enterprise.
The government partnered with the Global Environment Facility which is a global partnership of 18 agencies that include NGOs, the UN, and development banks that use "strategic investments" to "help reduce poverty, strengthen governance and achieve greater equality between women and men."
The government partnered with the Global Environment Facility which is a global partnership of 18 agencies that include NGOs, the UN, and development banks that use "strategic investments" to "help reduce poverty, strengthen governance and achieve greater equality between women and men."
GEF contributed a $4.3 million grant that galvanised additional funding from the World Bank and a $.2.4 billion from the Moroccan government.
